Irish general election, 1946

The Irish general election, 1946 was held on 1 December 1946, when the people of Ireland elected a new Dail Eireann. The election resulted in a sweeping victory for Fine Gael.

History
The conservative Fine Gael party was in power at the time of the election, which was called early due to an economic crisis in the country. The party was unable to control rising debt and emigration, and its decision to remain neutral in the Cold War was controversial among many. The party entered the Bretton Woods system, but it did not receive any bailouts from other countries, and the dire economic situation led to the opposition clamoring for a snap election. As Fine Gael held just 45% of the Dail Eireann's seats, it was outnumbered, and the government was forced to announce a new election on 31 May 1946, with the results to come in on 1 December 1946. The election, influenced by the Emergency Powers Act 1939, resulted in a sweeping Fine Gael victory. Due to the censored press, government sponsorship of public opinion, and restrictive voting laws, Fine Gael won the largest share of votes in every county. Fianna Fail lost by a mere 8% margin in most counties in western and southern Ireland, placing second. However, Sinn Fein was the second party in County Dublin, winning 21.5% of the vote to Fine Gael's 40.3% and Fianna Fail's 17.7%. Fine Gael and its derivative parties won a combined 46.45% of the vote, and Fine Gael formed a coalition government with Sinn Fein. Fianna Fail continued to be the largest opposition party in the country, while the Irish Labor Party continued to be the smallest of the four main parties in the country. The Fine Gael-Sinn Fein government's failure to tackle the worsening economic crisis led to another election being held in 1949.

Results

 * Fine Gael glyph.png Fine Gael - 46.45%
 * Sinn Fein logo.jpg Sinn Fein - 23.29%
 * Fianna Fail glyph.png Fianna Fail - 19.20%
 * Irish Labor Party glyph.png Irish Labor Party - 9.8%